Episode 1418 (4 March 1997)
Synopsis: Gita is furious with Sanjay, and his mother's over-eagerness to "help" and be all sweetness and light isn't making her feel any better. When she offers to go out to buy something or other they need for breakfast, Gita finally gets her chance to clear the air. She accuses Sanjay of being totally selfish and cowardly as he knew she'd be furious so didn't tell her in advance that he was bringing his mother. She also asks exactly how long he was intending to let her stay, and Sanjay admits that he told her she could stay permanently if she wanted to. She then returns from shopping with a horribly tacky ornament of some god or other, and starts looking around the lounge for a place to "create a shrine" for it. Joe is still reading the Bible and he asks Lorraine what sense there is in this story about a guy who wanted a son then was told by God to kill him. How could this be good? Lorraine says that he's not supposed to believe it all, it's just like a fairy story. Joe says so how can you tell which bits of the Bible you are supposed to believe? Lorraine says she has no idea. Joe ask if she's a Christian, and she says she supposes so, and he asks which bits of the Bible to believe, so she replies in exasperation, well, you're just supposed to believe in the "good bits." Joe goes to hospital for an assessment and he's concerned that he'll just be told to keep taking the pills. It turns out well, and he's off the drugs now. Peggy has a go at Grant about Lorraine taking time off and says she should do it in her own time, not theirs. Alistair asks Huw and Lenny to put leaflets for his religious group in the back of their cabs. Huw refuses because he's some Welsh church and Lenny says he's some other religion totally. Alistair goes off slightly irritated at their transparent excuses. Frankie sees Alistair in the market and rushes up to him saying how terribly embarrassed she is. He says no need, and she starts to creep around him saying that it's very kind of him to say that, but he knows what she's talking about, and that it's just a habit of hers and she means nothing by it. Alistair replies that of course as a man he's flattered that she finds him attractive, and he reassures her that she is still welcome at their meetings, and he suggests that she think about her motivations for her "habit." He also says that the flesh is sacred. Alistair looks up from his cosy conversation with Frankie, and in another little slip from the path of righteousness, he blasphemes: "Oh, Lord, there's my bus," and rushes off to catch it. She's agreed to come to the next meeting which is at his house. Sarah tells her later that it's Alistair's birthday so they're having a surprise party for him afterwards. Frankie goes off and buys some hideous sparkly scrap of cloth for the party. She shows it to Sarah who is horrified, and says that Alistair told her that flesh was something special, so she thought she'd better buy something to show as much as possible of it. Sarah says she doesn't think it's a good idea because...err... if she turns up at the meeting like that Alistair will guess there's something going on and it will spoil the surprise party. Frankie says “You don't have to look like a dog to be a Christian." Tiffany gets out the forms she needs to apply for her allowances, and discovers that she was supposed to give her employer 21 days notice of leaving before her confinement to get him to pay her more money. Tony points out that she didn't give that, and she says yes, that's the problem, but she's got to give it a go. She goes to Grant and tells him that as her former employer she needs him to sign some forms, and he refuses nastily. She looks miserable and goes in to the Vic and sees Peggy, who is pleased to see her back and immediately offers sympathy and signs the forms. Grant has a go at her about it, and Peggy points out that paying Tiffany 50 quid won't do any harm to the Vic. Ted asks Sarah if she knew that Tiffany was back, and she says she did, and he should be sympathetic to her. Ted isn't, and goes round to see Tony. He starts having a go at Tiffany, saying what's the story - "spot the Dad, Mug of the year?" Tony and Simon defend her and finally Ted leaves saying to Tony "Why can't you just be normal!" All three of them giggle at that as Ted leaves. Nigel sees the gang with the green flash on their jackets again, vandalising the community centre. He shouts at them and the boy with the can turns to look and it's Martin. Nigel recognises him. He wanders into the Vic and asks Lorraine a hypothetical question that if someone had seen Joe do something naughty would she have wanted them to come and tell her. She says of course, a mother always wants to know what her kids are up to, even if it is bad. So, Nigel plucks up courage to see Pauline. He starts by telling her he saw some kids vandalising the community centre. Pauline immediately replies, yes, it's terrible, I blame the parents. Nigel looks even more nervous and says err but..... sometimes even good kids get led astray. Pauline says "Oh dear, Claire's not in trouble is she?" Nigel says no, in fact it was Martin, and he's a part of the gang with the green flash jackets, and it was him who was actually spraying the door. Pauline says it couldn't possibly be Martin. Nigel says, slightly relieved, "why, is he here?" Pauline admits he isn't, but she still totally refuses to believe him and says he must be mistaken, it was dark. Nigel says it was directly under a street light and he is absolutely certain of what he saw, and he's sorry. Pauline says Martin isn't part of any gang, and Nigel says he has the same green flash on his jacket. Pauline insists that Nigel is wrong, so he finally gives up and leaves saying of course it was dark, he might be mistaken. However, when Martin returns home he gets the third degree. He has hidden his jacket in a bag, so Pauline gets it out and finds the green flash trademark of the gang spray-painted on the back. She is furious and says she has just been telling people that it wasn't him, and now she finds this. She forces him to "promise" that he will never see these boys again. He does so, rather reluctantly, and goes to bed. A few minutes later, he climbs out of his window and runs off to join the gang who are hanging around the Jacksons. Carol is just going to bed with a drink, and forgot to add sugar, so she returns to the kitchen, just as the leader of the gang is sticking newspaper over the front of their front room window. Carol knocks the sugar bowl to the floor, and it shatters, and this masks the sound of breaking glass as the front window is broken. The gang make off with the TV and video, and Carol goes upstairs and hears a noise from the front room. She opens the door and turns the light on just as the last of the gang, one Martin Fowler, is making his escape. Martin again looks directly at the light and at Carol who's caught him out in his criminal activities. Cast: *'Carol Jackson - Lindsey Coulson' *'Martin Fowler - James Alexandrou' *'Sanjay Kapoor - Deepak Verma' *'Gita Kapoor - Shobu Kapoor' *'Neelam Kapoor - Jamila Massey' *'Tiffany Mitchell - Martine McCutcheon' *'Tony Hills - Mark Homer' *'Simon Raymond - Andrew Lynford' *'Peggy Mitchell - Barbara Windsor' *'Grant Mitchell - Ross Kemp' *'Lorraine Wicks - Jacqueline Leonard' *'Joe Wicks - Paul Nicholls' *'Pauline Fowler - Wendy Richard' *'Mark Fowler - Todd Carty' *'Nigel Bates - Paul Bradley' *'Clare Bates - Gemma Bissix' *'Sarah Hills - Daniela Denby-Ashe' *'Ted Hills - Brian Croucher' *'Alistair Matthews - Neil Clark' *'Frankie Pierre - Syan Blake' *'Robbie Jackson - Dean Gaffney' *'Huw Edwards - Richard Elis' *'Lenny Wallace - Desune Coleman' *'Sonia Jackson - Natalie Cassidy' *'Blossom Jackson - Mona Hammond ' Category:Episode Category:1997 Episodes